African Nations Summon Chinese Ambassadors Over Racism in Guangzhou
2020-04-13 -- The governments of several African nations have summoned Chinese ambassadors or issued other forms of diplomatic protest following multiple reports of racism against black people in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, home to a trading district colloquially known as "little Africa."
The foreign ministers of Uganda, Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria have all summoned Chinese ambassadors in recent days after multiple reports and video clips emerged of evictions targeting African immigrants in thecity as the authorities implement coronavirus quarantine and testing programs.
The Twitter account of Black Livity, a news and current affairs website for and about black people living in China, tweeted a video on April 11 of a laminated notice in English at a branch of McDonalds in China, which read: "We've been informed that from now on black people are not allowed to enter the restaurant."
The notice then tells the recipient to report to the local police for coronavirus testing. The person shooting the video then hands it back to the employee, who is wearing a McDonalds uniform, after reading it.
Black Livity commented: "For those who still doubt that Black people and particularly #AfricansinChina are being targeted we feel it is our duty to share this. A sign at a @McDonalds restaurant seems to make this perfectly clear."
The U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou has said police have ordered local businesses not to serve people "who appear to be of African origin."
"African-Americans have also reported that some businesses and hotels refuse to do business with them," it said in an alert on its website.
"The U.S. Consulate General advises African-Americans ... to avoid the Guangzhou metropolitan area until further notice," it said.
Black people could be required to submit to a coronavirus test and then undergo 14 days' quarantine at their own expense, it warned.
'Harassment and mistreatment '
Two months ago, Black Livity ran an op-ed discussing a recent spate of racist videos on Chinese social media targeting black people, but particularly Africans, including one in which black children say the words "I am a black monster [the Chinese equivalent of the N-word] and I have a low IQ."
Uganda's foreign minister Sam Kutesa conveyed his government's "serious concern ... on the harassment and mistreatment of its nationals," the foreign ministry said in a statement, while Nigerian foreign minister Geoffrey Onyeama called via his Twitter account for "immediate Chinese government intervention" over the alleged maltreatment of Nigerians in Guangzhou.
Kenya's Saturday Nation newspaper ran a front page story with the headline: "Kenyans in China: Rescue us From Hell," reporting on "long nights in the cold, racial discrimination in shopping malls and retail outlets and attacks on public transport in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak."
"Residents of African descent have been kicked out of apartments on accusations of spreading the virus," the paper said, citing online video footage of young African immigrants sleeping on pavements and backstreets, or photos of signs barring foreigners from retail outlets.
The country's foreign ministry has issued a "complaint note" to Beijing and asked the Chinese Embassy to follow up, the paper said.
Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey condemned what she called the "ill-treatment and racial discrimination" meted out to Ghanaians and other African nationals in China in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.
"I have been briefed on the inhumane treatment being meted out to Ghanaians and other African nationals in the People's Republic China with regards to the COVID-19 outbreak," Botchwey said in a statement reported by Ghana's Citinewsroom website on Saturday.
"I regret and highly condemn this act of ill-treatment and racial discrimination," Botchwey said, adding that she had summoned the Chinese ambassador over the matter.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, who chairs the African Union Commission, said the Commission had followed suit "to express our extreme concern at allegations of maltreatment of Africans in #Guangzhou."
'Improve their working method'
Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the provincial authorities in the southern province of Guangdong, of which Guangzhou is the capital, "are working promptly to improve their working method."
"The Chinese government has been attaching great importance to the life and health of foreign nationals in China," Zhao said in a statement reported by Agence France-Presse on Sunday.
"The Guangdong (provincial) authorities attach great importance to some African countries' concerns," he said.
Zhao had earlier told an April 9 news briefing that Beijing "rejects[s] differential treatment targeting certain groups of people, and we have zero tolerance for discrimination."
The Black Livity op-ed, written two months ago, said black people living in China were "all angry about the mistreatment of our continent, communities and people."
"While our host country China battles coronavirus and bemoans [anti-Chinese] racism (rightly so) we, Africans and people of African descent have rushed to the country's defence producing videos in support of the country and volunteering to assist in efforts to bring the nation back to normalcy," it said.
The article said the responsibility for educating its citizens lies with China, and quoted the late Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, who wrote: "The function, the very serious function of racism is a distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being."
Reported by RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
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